Real 72 GSX?

Later 72 car woulda had the fasten seat belt light on top of the dash and different seat belts (can't see them on this car) smog equipment is missing etc. Lots of little things "incorrect" but that's pretty typical. Nice car regardless. From someone who has bought a car on eBay sight unseen I recommend looking at it in person no matter how good it looks in pictures

 

I would want to see pics of just how bad the flood damage was and of the re-restoration. Was the interior removed? Were the seats, if they were wet, just dried or replaced? And, what about the engine? The seller sure paints a perfect picture, but offers zero explanation on the rebuilt title. Like he's looking for someone who won't investigate and impulse buy. I'm not saying anything about the car's value. I'd just want to know what I'm buying.

 

The interior is important on a "flood car". However, I would also be concerned about the wiring. When buying a car with flood or possible flood damage.....check the wire connections for corrosion.

P.S. This shop is about 15 mins from me. I heard they do good work but $$$$.

Norm

 

The car looks nice but why can't they even put the front bumper on correctly??
It's pointing upwards and that's about the first thing I noticed when looking at pics...

I wouldn't bother if it's a real dealer added GSX or not...if the price is the same as for any other nicely restored GS455.

I really like the color of the car.

 

You can say what ever you want, but I know of 2 Dealer installed GSX's, and both have paperwork. If you don't have paperwork then there is no proof...............end of story.
Duane


Please enlighten us to what exactly is a dealer installed GSX? You buy a hood tach rear spoiler, some emblems and Add the stripes?What paper work would you have seen ? A bill of sale for parts brought and installed?Anyway back to this car in question this is a GS455 with stripes added at a body shop in 2013 .Insurance paid out $30,000 claim and totalled car for flood damage in 2014.Car was sold for $25,000 + fees another $1000 or so to current seller and has a Salvage title .Current seller is hoping for $35,000 pay day.Theres no paper work.

 

"Please enlighten us to what exactly is a dealer installed GSX?"




Dealer Installed GSX

Lets say someone went to a Buick dealership to purchase a new car back in say 70 or 71 and they wanted a GSX. They sat down with a salesman and decided the options they wanted, color etc, and ordered the car.....................and lets take this one step further and say the customer wanted a GSX in a color that was not available!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!..........or they picked out the car they wanted but wanted the GSX options added when they bought it.....................

OK, so what does the salesman do? Is he going to call the guy back, say no deal and lose the sale? Well on a few occasions the salesman did exactly what the customer wanted..........."The customer is always right" isn't that how the saying goes?

Anyway a car was chosen, the parts were ordered, the stripes/parts were supplied, and when the customer picked up the car he got all the paperwork stating he purchased a GSX.

The customer may not have known it was not a factory car or not, and may not have even cared, as he got exactly what he wanted.

(Back in the day if a car had a W30 engine under the hood it was considered a W30. Period, end of story. It wasn't until years later, with the "numbers game" that anyone really gave a $hit about a car being factory.)

Now back to the GSX story. The customer got what he wanted, the salesman got his sale, the dealership got another car off the lot, the bodyshop/parts guys/mechanics got some work, everyones happy!!!!!

There are stories like this with all brand vehicles, Z28's, 442's, the list goes on and on.

TODAY These types of cars are an oddity, and have a little bit more history then a regular production car, but will not have the value of a factory built car by any means. They might command a small premium but that's it, and if they don't have any paperwork to prove anything, then all you have is a good story.


.................so as Paul Harvey used to say "So now you know the rest of the story."
Duane

PS. We had one (1) of these cars at the GSX Reunion, Louie brought his 71 Blue 455 car. Both Mark Macoubrie and I were very happy and proud to have it. It was one of the most unique cars there, due to it's history, and showed another facet of the car hobby.

 

/\/\/\/\ All very true. There were a lot of '69 Z/28s that were delivered to the dealer with 'flat hoods' (mine was). The cowl induction hoods were an option. Many customers and sales people thought the cowl hood was standard so there were more than a few surprises when the flat hood was on the car. In many cases, the dealer painted a cowl hood and replaced the flat one along with the correct air breather. Most not documented.

 

So how much better were the dealer stripes painted? Seems the factory had a hard time making them line up correctly. Paper work seems to be hard enough to find on a legit car let alone dealer installed stripes. I would think that would have all been internal to dealer and not the general public...as per say paper work. The unanswered questions we have 40 plus years later.

 

As Duane said,

"Dealer Installed GSX

Lets say someone went to a Buick dealership to purchase a new car back in say 70 or 71 and they wanted a GSX. They sat down with a salesman and decided the options they wanted, color etc, and ordered the car.....................and lets take this one step further and say the customer wanted a GSX in a color that was not available!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!..........or they picked out the car they wanted but wanted the GSX options added when they bought it.....................

OK, so what does the salesman do? Is he going to call the guy back, say no deal and lose the sale? Well on a few occasions the salesman did exactly what the customer wanted..........."The customer is always right" isn't that how the saying goes?"


In the mid 70s and into the 80s we had salesmen that would swap wheels and complete interiors from car to car if it meant missing a sale. In 1977 we had dealer installed T-Tops supplied through GM...(that was a nightmare)......we also took a 70 Stage 1 car off the used car lot and added some of the "X" options just because we had the part numbers and because we could.....so a dealer installed GSX....would have been no problem.....

 

My local Pontiac dealer wanted to put a sunroof and leather seats in a black G8 to try and make a sale of an in stock vehicle. I said thank you but no way. So it is very true and very possible.

 

I know of a 70 Stage 1 coupe that supposedly came with a white interior when it was purchased new. The problem was the trim code showed it was supposed to have a black interior.

This car could have been one of those dealer "interior swap" cars when new.
Duane

PS. When my Dad bought his 2004 LeSabre new he wanted a different radio, so they took the radio out of another car and swapped it. So as of 2004 they were still swapping parts out at dealerships.

 

Would seem there is less tread left on the rear tires. Flood dmg? bwahahahaha

 

In '87 or '88 we had a customer bring his car in for service. In dealership service there is alot of repetition, especialy when the shop
takes in a 100 + cars a day. A service parts counterman might pull parts for 2 or 3 techs at once. With that being said, the parts pulled for repair
on this customer's car were always wrong. A tech brought me the RO and asked why can't he get the correct parts.....the customer had purchased a new
Regal Somerset at another dealer and purchased all interior and body Riviera nameplates and replaced them himself. I got a call a few years later from a friend at another dealer where the car had been traded in for a new Chevy. A new salesman thought the car was a Riviera and gave him full trade in and as a result lost his job and the dealer was taking the man to court. The man never claimed it was a Riviera and the dealer should have known better.

This is the short version of this story and my 2 cents worth, but its about numbers, V.I.N., Fisher, RPOs and papers......in the long run
it could save you some money.....

:TU:

 

Just last week, my wife and I were thinking of trading her 2011 Dodge Charger v-6 in on a leftover 2014 Charger R/T with all wheel drive, as you can no longer get Hemi all wheel drive for 2015 due to lack of interest.
Anyway, we looked and looked through existing inventory in a 300 mile radius for a car with a color and options we wanted. Pickens are getting slim, but they located a car with the color she wanted and all the options she wanted.......except for leather seats.
I told him the cloth seats were a deal breaker, so they were going to order leather seat covers from chrysler, and swap the stuff at the dealer to make it work.

Long story short, parts swapping is STILL alive and well in 2015.

BTW we kept our car, wasn't willing to take an ass whooping on trade in.